<p>My son has been accepted to both schools for engineering (still waiting to hear from Texas A & M and NC State, but I think he'd prefer Virginia Tech and Wisconsin to them). His current engineering interests are aerospace and nuclear, but I don't know how firm that is. Does anyone have any thoughts on the respective merits of the two--both academic and otherwise?</p>
<p>I believe WI is a more highly ranked Eng Dept overall and top 3 for Nuclear. No Aerospace at WI. </p>
<p>Otherwise WI has very strong social science depts and humanities programs - a very well rounded campus - plus a national student body. </p>
<p>Don’t know much about V-Tech.</p>
<p>I’m from VA and can attest to VTs engineering program. If your an engineer from VA then there is like an 80% chance you went to VT (an exageration no doubt, but you get the point). VT grads are solid. Ask Chuy, he goes there now. </p>
<p>That being said, so is Wisconsin. </p>
<p>However, VT does NOT have a nuclear degree and Wisconsin, oddly, does NOT have an aerospace degree. So you may want to sort out what degree you want quick. If you can’t settle into one then I would go TAMU if possible. They have a massive aerospace program, a solid nuclear degree, and are just as well known as VT and Wisconsin for engineering overall.</p>
<p>Thanks to everyone for your comments. They were helpful. We are going to make quick trips to both schools in April, which hopefully will help clarify matters.</p>
<p>VT does not have a nuclear degree, although there are nuclear classes and you can get a nuclear certificate. The head of the college of engineering really likes nuclear, but said he doesn’t plan on bringing back a full major. We do have Aerospace and it seems like they get pretty heavily recruited. It’s not my major (I’m MSE) but I do TA for an Aerospace class, and they seem pretty bright, if that counts for anything. A good thing about VT is that he’ll have about a year to decide what major in engineering he wants to go in to, with plenty of opportunities to talk with professors and students in each of them.</p>
<p>I don’t really know anything about Wisconsin, but from what others have said it sounds solid. If he visits both campuses and likes one more than the other he should probably go there. If he likes them both about the same he should think about whether he wants to live in the southeast or midwest. You can get a job anywhere after graduation (heck, I’m going to be working in California and Canada for a year) but you’ll have more opportunities, especially for internships, in the area around your school.</p>
<p>Wisconsin has a great engineering school, and Madison is one of the best college towns in the country. I would definitely recommend a visit. I don’t know much about the nuclear engineering program other than it is highly ranked, but I know the engineering mechanics department does have an astronautics concentration. I’m not really ensure what it entails or if it is comparable to aerospace engineering, I’d check out the website.</p>